


The Accident

by Anxiety_Baker02



Series: It’s All Tony’s Fault Universe [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, sorry I couldn’t help myself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 12:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17345432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anxiety_Baker02/pseuds/Anxiety_Baker02
Summary: How Bucky lost his arm and gained a new one.*A lot of people wanted to know what happened, so here you go!





	The Accident

“I’m tired,” Steve yawned.

Bucky snorted. “It’s four-thirty, babe. It’s not even dark.”

“I was up all night grading.”

Steve saw Bucky rolling his eyes. “You were in bed by ten.”

“And I got up at five!”

“Fine, you big baby. Take a nap.”

“We’re ten minutes from the apartment,” Steve protested.

“Oh my _god_ ,” Bucky said, laughing. “I will pull this car over, Steve Rogers, I swear.”

Steve had to laugh. He turned to admire his husband’s grinning face.

“Stop starin’ at me, I’m trying to drive,” Bucky said without looking away from the road.

“I can’t help it, Buck. You’re so handsome-”. Steve cut off, eyes going wide. A truck was speeding towards them. “Bucky, look out!”

By the time Bucky turned it was too late. Bucky threw his arm out in front of Steve. The truck rammed into the side of their car without slowing down.

Steve heard Bucky yelling, the awful crunch of metal on metal, tires squealing, and then his head slammed against the window and he blacked out.

* * *

 

When Steve came to, it was nearly dark. His head was pounding, and when he touched it, his hand came away bloody. It took him a few seconds to get his bearings, but when he did he jolted forward. His seatbelt nearly choked him.

“Bucky!”

He turned, wrestling with the goddamn belt before managing to rip it off of him.

When he saw his husband, his heart nearly stopped.

Bucky was completely still, blood running from his forehead and-

“Oh god,” Steve choked out.

It looked like Bucky’s left arm was completely engulfed in the door. Steve knew he wouldn’t be able to get Bucky out without seriously hurting him.

“Bucky,” he said, feeling a weak pulse. “Come on, baby, wake up.”

Bucky didn’t move.

Steve fumbled for his phone and- of course- it was dead.

He cursed and shakily got out of the car, looking around. Evidently the car had rolled down the side of the road into a ditch, which means no one could see them.

He gritted his teeth against his dizziness and climbed the small incline.

After five minutes, he managed to wave down a car. A man and a woman got out, looking concerned.

“Please help me,” Steve said desperately.  “My husband and I were in an accident, our car rolled down the hill.  He’s unconscious and stuck inside, and my phone’s dead.”

The two people looked down at the mangled car.

“Oh my god, of course,” the woman said. “Jack, call 911!”

“Thank you,” Steve whispered, and then he collapsed.

* * *

 

Steve woke up to someone touching his head.

“Ow,” he muttered, opening his eyes.

A young woman stepped away. “Thank god, you’re awake.  You’ve been out for almost four hours.”

Steve looked around, and then he sat up quickly.

“Where’s my husband?”

The woman bit her lip. “He’s alive,” she said slowly.

“That’s not what I asked,” Steve growled.

“Sir, we need your name, and your husband’s.”

Steve sighed. “I’m Steve Rogers, he’s Bucky Barnes.”

“Okay, Mr. Rogers. Your husband-”

“Take me to him.”

“You really should know-”

“Just take me to him!”

The nurse sighed. “Alright. This way.”

She led him down a few different hallways before stopping in front of a door that said _John Doe._

“Sir, before you go in, you really need to know-”

Steve ignored her, opening the door. Bucky was sitting in a bed, looking disoriented. A doctor seemed to have been talking to him, but he cut off when Steve walked in.

Steve stared at his husband. He looked okay, except for a few cuts on his face, and large bandage on his forehead, and- _oh. Oh god_.

His left arm was gone.

Steve finally met his husband’s foggy eyes.

“Bucky,” he said gently.

Bucky blinked at him a few times, his forehead creasing.

“Who the hell is Bucky?”

* * *

 

Steve stood outside the door feeling like he was going to throw up.

“He obviously hit his head very hard,” the doctor told him. “He is suffering from severe memory loss.”

As soon as Bucky had asked him, well, who Bucky was, Steve felt like the walls were closing in. The doctor had practically dragged him out of the room.

“Now, usually in these situations, the patient can regain their memory. However, you cannot pressure him at all.”

Steve looked at the doctor helplessly. “Meaning?”

The doctor sighed. “This will be very hard for you, but I assume you want to do what’s best for your husband?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then you have to let his memories come back on their own. It would be for the best if you didn’t tell him that you’re together. You can tell him that you’re his best friend, anything along those lines.”

Steve wanted to scream. “You’re saying I can’t tell him we’re married? To pretend, what, that we’re roommates or some shit?”

The doctor looked at him pityingly. “I’m sorry, Mr. Rogers.  It’s to make him as comfortable as you can. If you tell him you’re his husband, he’ll most likely feel uncomfortable, or try to make himself remember faster, which can be damaging to his healing process. You can tell him about his life, things like his family and friends.”

Steve wanted to argue. He wanted to fight, to find the bastard that hit them. But he knew it wouldn’t help Bucky.

“Okay,” he whispered finally. “What about his arm?”

“By the time the paramedics reached you, the circulation had been cut off for too long. We didn’t have any choice but to amputate.”

Steve swallowed thickly, nodding. “Thank you for saving him.”

The doctor patted his shoulder consolingly. “You can go talk to him now.”

Steve nodded again, quietly opening the door.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said immediately.

Bucky shook his head. “I’m sorry I can’t remember.”

Steve shook his head. “Don’t be. Do you, uh, want me to explain anything?”

“You know me?”

Steve smiled sadly, trying not to let his heart break show as he sat in the chair next to the bed.

“Your name is James Buchanan Barnes. Everyone calls you Bucky. You were driving, and some asshole ran a red light and t-boned us. What did the doctor tell you?”

“That my arm was stuck in the door, and I have amnesia.”

Steve nodded. “Yeah. Uh, let’s see. Do you want me to tell you about everything?”

Bucky nodded.

“Okay. My name is Steve Rogers, and you’re my- my best friend. We share an apartment. You have three little sisters. Becca is twenty-four, she’s married to a man named Kyle and they have two kids, a little girl named Jane and a little baby boy named Henry. Kathryn is sixteen, and she’s top of her class. Alice is five, and she’s already really smart, she just loves to read. Your mom’s name is Winifred Barnes and- oh, shit.”

Steve groaned.

“What?”

“I really should make some calls. No one knows what happened.”

Bucky nodded. “I’ll be okay.”

Steve started to bend down to kiss Bucky, but he held himself back and left the room.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket when he was in a quiet area. The nurses had charged it for him, thank god.

He stared at the phone for a few moments before typing in the group chat with all of their friends.

_Sorry to tell you over text. Bucky and I were in an accident. It’s bad. Meet at Danvers Hospital._

He sent it, and then called Winifred. He didn’t want to see their responses, but he was dreading telling Bucky’s mother.

“ _Hello_?”

“Winifred, it’s Steve.”

“ _Steve, hi! Is everything alright? You sound upset.”_

Steve took a steadying breath. “Not really. Bucky and I were in an accident. Someone ran a red light and hit us. Bucky’s alive, just...he’s alive, but it’s serious.”

Winifred gasped. “ _What_ …”

Steve heard the pings indicating several texts from his friends, but he ignored them.

“He hit his head very hard, and he lost his memory. The doctor thinks it should come back, but he doesn’t remember anything. And...and his arm. It was trapped in the door, and the doctor said they didn’t have any choice but to amputate.”

He heard the hitch in Winifred’s breath. “ _Oh_.”

“We’re at Danvers Hospital, I could ask Tony to pick you up-”

 _“No, the girls and I will be there in a few minutes. Are you alright_?”

Steve knew she was trying to distract herself.

“I have a concussion, but otherwise I’m fine.”

“ _And how are you handling this?”_

Tears pricked the back of Steve’s eyes.

“I’m scared,” he whispered after a beat.

“ _Of course you are, sweetheart. Have you spoken to your mother?”_

“My mother...oh my god, she’s here, isn’t she?”

_“I assume so. She’s working the evening shift, I believe.”_

“That’s right, I didn’t even think!”

“ _You go find her. We’re getting into the car now_.”

“Okay. Drive safe,” he said worriedly.

“ _I will dear. See you soon.”_

As soon as he hung up, he practically took off running.

He got a little turned around, and it took him longer than he should have to find his mother’s unit.

“Excuse me,” he said to the nurse at the station. “Do you know where Sarah Rogers is?”

The nurse pointed behind him.

Steve glanced over his shoulder and saw his mother talking to a doctor.

“Thanks,” he said to the nurse.

He turned around. “Mom!” He called.

Sarah turned away from the doctor.

“Steve? Oh my god, what did you do?”

She excused herself from the other woman and quickly walked up to her son, looking at his forehead.

Steve reached up and touched the bandage. He had almost forgotten.

“No, I’m fine.  Mom,” he started, feeling the tears returning.

“Baby, what’s the matter?”

“It’s Bucky, Mom. We were in an accident, someone ran a red, t-boned us. I got knocked out, and when I woke up Bucky was unconscious and his arm was trapped in the door. I couldn’t get him out, so I climbed up the hill- we had rolled into a ditch- and I got help, but I passed out again. I woke up, and I found out that Bucky was awake, so I went in to see him. He lost his arm, Mom,” Steve said in a strangled voice.

Sarah’s jaw dropped. “Oh god-”

Steve shook his head. “But that’s not even the worst part. He doesn’t remember. He can’t remember anything! The doctor said he has amnesia. He doesn’t remember me. I said, when I walked in, I said ‘Bucky,’ but he just looked at me and asked ‘who the hell is Bucky?’ He forgot who he was, he- forgot-  _everything_!”

Steve’s voice finally broke and he began to cry.

Sarah hugged him close. “Oh, sweetheart. Should we go see him?”

“I can’t! The doctor told me I can’t even tell him we’re married. As far as he knows, I’m his best friend and we share an apartment, and I just can’t do that right now and _crap_. I texted people and they’re probably all waiting in the lobby.”

Sarah rubbed his arm. “We’ll go find them, then.”

* * *

 

Eighteen panicked people were waiting in the lobby.

“Steve, oh my god!” Tony pushed forward and hugged him. “You can’t just not answer after sending something like that!”

Steve didn’t answer.

“Where’s Bucky?” Tony asked suddenly, pulling away.

Tears filled Steve’s eyes again.

“He’s not…” Natasha said anxiously.

Steve shook his head quickly. “The doctors say he’ll recover. But...he has severe amnesia. He doesn’t remember anything.”

“Anything?” Becca asked, pushing to the front.

Steve shook his head. A few tears slipped out.

“He didn’t know his name until I told him. The doctor said not to push him to remember, and that means that-”

Steve’s voice broke and he cut off, trying to collect himself.

“That means that he can’t be pressured. So as far as he knows, I’m his best friend, and we share an apartment.”

Everyone stared at him.

“He doesn’t know you’re married?”

Steve shook his head.

“Who does he think he’s married to?” Asked Daniel.

“No one,” Steve said, shrugging.

“Didn’t he notice the ring?”

Steve shut his eyes.

“Oh. Right. So, I forgot to mention. When we were hit, his arm got mangled in the door. The doctor...he had to amputate.”

There was a collective gasp.

“How did this happen?”

Steve started to answer, but his stomach turned.

“I’m going to be sick,” he said instead, and he ran for the bathroom.

* * *

***Bucky’s POV***

The man who had burst into his room earlier hadn’t looked remotely familiar to him. Scared, yes. Hot, definitely.

He shook his head- was he even gay? What did any of that matter when he could barely remember his own name?

 _Bucky_.

That’s what the blonde man- Steve- called him. The name felt foreign in his head. It was a strange name, but he liked it better than James. He supposed that must be why everyone called him Bucky.

Steve said they were best friends, and roommates, even. And then he left to go call Bucky’s mom, and that was nearly an hour and a half ago.

Bucky laid in the hospital bed, struggling to remember something. Anything.

_Bucky. James Buchanan Barnes. Steve. Becca. Kyle. Jane. Henry. Kathryn. Alice. Winifred._

Those were all the names Steve gave him. And he couldn’t remember any of them. No voices, no faces, nothing.

It was immensely frustrating, and scary. His mind was completely blank.

And what if he never remembered?

Steve had obviously been crushed over this. Bucky couldn’t imagine what his family must be like. And what if he had a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend? God, what if he was married? He was missing his left arm, after all. No ring to tell him, and the doctor’s weren’t budging.

Speaking of his arm, it hurt. A lot. The doctor told him it had gotten mangled in the door during the crash. Which is when he lost his memory.

Bucky felt like he was going in circles.

Finally, the door opened and Steve stepped in again.

“Hey, Bucky. Sorry, I got caught up talking to everyone.”

Bucky blinked. “Everyone?”

“Our friends, your family.”

“Uh, how many people?”

“Nineteen, including my mom.”

“Your mom?”

Steve laughed softly- it was a sad laugh, Bucky thought.

“Yeah. She works here, and besides, we’ve been best friends since we were seventeen. You-”

Steve cut himself off, and Bucky raised an eyebrow.

“I what?”

“You, uh, you lived with us for a few years.”

“Why?”

Steve shook his head. “Nevermind. Your mom and sisters want to see you. Is that okay?”

Bucky shrugged his only arm. It felt weird.

“I guess.”

Steve gave a half smile, then he was gone.

A few moments later, four new people came into his room.

The oldest woman’s eyes immediately filled with tears. His mother, Bucky assumed.

“Oh, my sweet boy.”

She hugged him, and Bucky patted her back awkwardly.

The next woman, who had to be Becca from what Steve said, gave him a watery smile.

The teenager- Kathryn- but her lip and was trying not to look at his arm- or rather, what was left of it.

The youngest, Alice, was openly staring.

Bucky didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry I can’t remember,” he tried.

“Don’t you apologize, sweetheart. Don’t do that. You’re going to be just fine, I talked to the doctor. He said you should get your memory back.”

Bucky nodded.

“Do you really not remember us? Or Steve?” Alice asked suddenly.

Kathryn shushed her.

Bucky shook his head. “I don’t, kid.”

“So you can’t remember that-”

Kathryn slapped a hand over Alice’s mouth.

“I’ll take her outside. We’ll be back, Bucky.”

Bucky nodded curiously.

It was very strange, sitting in a room with two strangers who were apparently his family.

They made polite small talk, his mother fussing over him, and then the two women told him about his friends. Their names, and their jobs, and his job. Apparently, he was the head engineer for a man named Tony Stark. Who was one of his friends. And Steve’s brother.

He eventually fell asleep.

* * *

***STEVE POV***

Steve slept at the hospital for the next two nights. He slept on a cot near the nurse’s station, not wanting to freak Bucky out. Sam finally convinced him to go home and shower.

Angie went with him, and when he broke down as soon as he saw Bucky’s favorite shirt in the closet, she didn’t judge him. Instead, she sat on the floor with him and let him cry into her shoulder.

Once Steve finished crying, he showered and gathered some clothes for Bucky.

He stopped for a moment to look around his bedroom. He thought about something he hadn’t for a long time: the week he and Bucky had been stuck in their future.

That was a year from now, almost. And evidently Bucky had his memory back then, and his metal arm.

Bucky, you- well, the accident that took your arm also gave you a bump on the head, Tony had said to them.

A glimmer of hope shone in Steve’s head, and he breathed freely for the first time in three and a half days.

* * *

 

After two weeks, Steve began going home more often.

It was a mistake.

Steve went to work one day, and he didn’t have a chance to get back to the hospital until the next afternoon.

He walked into Bucky’s hospital room, and he gasped as soon as his eyes fell on Bucky.

Right where Bucky’s left arm should be glinted the metal prosthetic that he had had when they were stuck in the future. The one that Steve swore he would never let Bucky get.

“When did that happen?” He asked with forced calm.

“Yesterday afternoon. This new doctor came in, told me they wanted to try something. They showed me the idea, and I agreed, stupidly. I’m pissed now. This thing hurts like a son of a bitch,” Bucky said, frowning and rubbing at the place where metal met angry red flesh.

“It looks like it does. Shit, Bucky, I’m sorry.”

Bucky shook his head. “Oh well. I’m sure it’ll get better once I heal more.

Steve felt like crying.

* * *

 

Bucky’s memory still wasn’t back by the time the hospital decided he was okay enough to go home four weeks later.

Steve had had a mini panic attack- how the hell was he going to explain to Bucky that they were roommates who shared a bed?

Daniel calmed him down, and he and Peggy helped Steve move the big bed into storage in the basement, replacing it with two smaller beds. They reorganized the closets and drawers, Steve put away all pictures of them from their wedding, and anything else indicating that they were more than friends. It broke his heart, especially when he realized he needed to take off his wedding ring. He slipped it on the chain the held his dog tags so he could still keep it close.

* * *

 

Steve had hoped bringing Bucky home would bring back some memories, and he could tell Bucky was too.

It didn’t work.

Steve spent the next three weeks dying a bit inside every time he made joke or did anything referencing their past (out of habit) Bucky only gave him the blank look.

* * *

***BUCKY POV***

Steve wasn’t telling him something.

Bucky didn’t know what, but he could tell. Evidently, Steve looked to the right every single time before he lied.

Bucky had picked up on that the very first time Steve had said that he was single. He wasn’t sure why Steve was lying, but he knew Steve was doing a bad job of it.

He also knew Steve was doing everything he could to make him comfortable.

It was working, mostly. Steve wasn’t smothering him, like Bucky was worried he might- after all, he was Bucky’s best friend (apparently), and best friends worry.

But he was having a lot of trouble adjusting to using just his right arm- his new left one really hurt him. It weighed down his whole left side and threw him off balance. It just ached constantly. To make matters worse, he felt horrible that he couldn’t remember anything. But apparently he had awesome friends and family who were doing all they could to help him.

And Steve. Steve was going above and beyond. He told him about their friendship, and how when they first met they hated each other. Bucky knew that something was missing from that story, but again, he didn’t know what. Maybe it was a lot of somethings.

It was a Saturday afternoon three weeks after he was discharged from the hospital. Steve was watching tv, and Bucky had a killer headache.

“You mind if I take a nap?” He asked Steve.

Steve looked at him. “Of course not. Need anything?”

Bucky shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”

For the first time since he woke up in the hospital minus and arm and his memory, Bucky dreamt. It was like watching a movie.

_He was startled awake as someone dropped books on the table in front of him. He glared up at someone who looked like a tiny, angry version of Steve._

_“What the hell, man!”_

_“You were sleeping, Barnes, and I’m doing this on my free time.”_

_“I fell asleep because you were late. And you could’ve been nicer about it,” Bucky protested._

_Angry Steve rolled his eyes at him._

_“Let’s just get it over with, okay?”_

_“Fine.”_

_————_

_“The hell happened to you?” Bucky asked Angry Steve._

_It was a new day, same place._

_“I’m fine,” Steve muttered, wincing as he sat down._

_“Jesus, man, were you mugged?”_

_“No, Barnes. I know this will shock you, but some people at this school don’t like me.”_

_“Are you saying someone here did that to you? Is this the same reason you had a black eye last week? And the week before? Someone’s beating on you?” Bucky felt a spark of anger- who would do that?_

_—————_

_Suddenly, he was being punched. He was outside, and he knew that he was doing the right thing, even if he didn’t know who he was fighting or why, but then he caught sight of Angry Steve, and he realized he was probably fighting for him- even if he didn’t want Bucky to._

_—————_

_Bucky was sitting in someone’s kitchen, and suddenly small Steve crashed in, falling to the floor. Laughter came from the hallway._

_“You okay, dummy?”_

_“Fine, asshole.”_

_—————_

_Bucky was sitting in a chair, holding a metal rod. His whole body was seized up in pain._

_—————_

_He was jumping out of a bed, yelling something. Normal Steve stood across from him, eyes bugging out of his head._

_—————_

_The dreams began to pass quicker, and suddenly Bucky was in a suit, staring across at Steve, saying “I do.”_

_—————_

Bucky jerked awake. He had been asleep for hours, judging by the clock. But that wasn’t important.

“Holy _shit_!”

* * *

***STEVE POV***

“Holy _shit_!”

Steve jumped off the couch at Bucky’s yell.

“Everything okay?” He called worriedly.

Bucky opened the bedroom door, staring at Steve, eyes wide.

“ _Stevie_.”

Steve blinked. Bucky hadn’t called him that since…

His eyes went wide.

Bucky threw himself at Steve, wrapping his good arm around Steve’s neck and burying his face in Steve’s shoulder.

“I remember, Stevie. Oh, god, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I put you through this, I’m sorry I didn’t remember-”

Steve cut Bucky off by pulling away. His heart was soaring, and he knew he was crying.

“Don’t you ever apologize for this, James Buchanan Barnes. Ever.”

Bucky nodded.

“I love you, Stevie,” he whispered. “So much.”

“I love you too, Buck.”

Bucky smiled and kissed Steve, and it felt like Steve was in heaven. He had missed Bucky so much.

“Steve,” Bucky asked a few minutes later.

“Hmm?”

“What the hell did you do with our bed?”

Steve started laughing through his tears, and he couldn’t stop.

* * *

 

 

 


End file.
